ISLA MUJERES ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELD SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT

 

 

 

The Isla Mujeres Ethnographic Field School (I.F.S.) is dedicated to the professionalization of ethnographic research and the training of students on how to conduct ethical, meaningful and professional research. Our mission is to train ethnographers that we are confident in and that we know can get the job done. Be it future graduate school research or projects for employers. Our trained ethnographers can tackle a research project from beginning to end with confidence, experience and know-how.

 

Students will participate in formal lectures, informal presentations, government meetings and briefings, and ethnographic research that serves to assist the people of Isla Mujeres either through applied anthropological techniques or through creating a more full ethnographic record that illuminates the island's past, present and possible future.

 

Students will be immersed within the culture of the island and will conduct collaborative research with it's residents. Students will learn the value of team work through helping each other on projects, talking through field research problems and supporting each other in their professional development.

 

Before students arrive to the Field School they will communicate often with faculty to develop their independent research ideas and proposals, as well as conduct literature reviews for their proposal. After they leave the Field School they will also be in close communication with select faculty to prepare their research papers for publication in academic journals and/or for professional conference presentations.

 

We train both undergraduate and graduate students. The Isla Mujeres Ethnographic Field School is an investment in a student's scholarly and professional future. Our program gives students the cutting edge needed to get into good graduate school programs, develop graduate school dissertation research (which will help in securing research funding for dissertations) and will help them land the job they want in the discipline.

 

Many undergraduates will use their experience and data for senior thesis projects, while many graduate students will use it for pilot research to develop their Masters thesis or Doctoral dissertations.

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Team-Based:

 

 

Our research model is team-based. This helps to ensure the quality of the research and analysis is more accurate, spreads the workload, and helps to keep each member on track with publication schedules. 

 

Not everybody can logistically partake in the Advanced Methods program. Therefore, our 3-week In-Field and Fully Remote options allow for others to gain critical ethnographic training and experience, while adding valuable data and insight to one or more projects. 

 

Each Advanced Methods student is the Principle Investigator (PI) for their particular project. Each student can be a member of multiple teams as a Research Associates (or even as Co-PI) for that team. This includes other Advanced Methods students, as well as Practicum and Remote students. The responsibilities of each researcher on each team will be specified during our online pre-field training period (Fieldcraft One). As each project develops, the order of authorship for any publications will also be determined. We may have several side projects that organically present themselves, which we will form teams to address as needed. For example, in 2024, two Advanced Methods students and one Remote student conducted two main projects but also developed three other projects to produce five academic articles for publication, with each of the team members being a lead author on at least one paper while co-authoring on the others. The Research Director, Dr. Todd Pierce, was also a co-author on the other papers while being the lead author on one paper (and the students were co-authors). Also, if a team member has a logistical issue that prevents them from completing their field research and analysis, the other team members can continue the project to completion. This approach offers us a more diverse way of approaching a research project while increasing the success of each project. For example, if one researcher gets sick and can not continue, the other team members can complete the project and publications. 

 

The goal is that everybody becomes intimately familiar with all aspects of the field research process, and experience in data collection and analysis, as well as the opportunity to create conference papers and academic journal publications while building their CV. 

 

However, Advanced Methods students can choose to work solo for their entire project, resulting in sole authorship on any publications as well. Students who choose that will not participate in the third phase of the program, as that is a fully team-based project (and since you’d be on your own during the final analysis and writing portion of your project). 

 

NOTE: Students must participate in the pre-field online portion of the training. They should also complete phase two (the actual research and analysis phase), but the third stage is optional. If a student knows, in advance, that they can not logistically dedicate their time towards creating a publication or conference paper, then they can opt for that. They should just let the Researcher Director know well in advance so that roles can be assigned accordingly. This scenario is more likely with Practicum and Remote students who want to have the online component as well as some research experience, but simply can not dedicate the time for the rest of the program. That is fine, of course. We all have demands on our time. If during your time in the research phase, your efforts on data collection are proven helpful to a particular project (where your data is being used), then you may still have the opportunity to co-author. 

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Pre Field School:

 

 

• Prepare students for research

 

• Develop a solid research idea,

 

• Conduct literature reviews 

 

• Create a research proposal (based on Ph.D. Dissertation proposals).

 

 

During Field School:

 

 

• Ethics in anthropology and ethnographic research training

 

• Guided Research Language and cultural familiarization

 

• PADI Open Water Certification

 

• Finalization of Research Proposals

 

• Ethnographic methods training and practical assignments

 

• Conduct independent research projects

 

• Team-based ethnographic approaches

 

• Client-based research

 

• Collaborative research (with local NGO and Government organizations

 

• Data Analysis and Preparation

 

• Present findings in a conference-style open-to-the-public forum on Isla Mujeres

 

• Submit an academic journal-style article of findings to be developed for publication and for official submission to the local Government (Ayuntamiento) of Isla Mujeres for their records

 

• Create and submit a Curriculum Vitae

 

 

Post Field School:

 

 

• Develop and organize papers for conference professional anthropological conference presentations

 

• Develop papers for academic journal publications

 

• Staff assists with graduate school application processes and letters of referral, as well as networking with others in the field and job or grant opportunities.